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A former Deputy Defence Minister, Major Derek Oduro RTD says the New Patriotic Party (NPP)-Government was not happy about the strike embarked by the drivers in the country.
According to him, they were also not happy about how people were stranded and the plenty complaints by the people of Ghana in connection with the strike.
The Coalition of Commercial Transport Operators in Ghana including the Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU) embarked on a sit down Strike on Monday, December 6, 2021.
This was to get the government scrap all the taxes on the pump price of petroleum products to ease the burden on Ghanaians.
Read Also: 22 arrested for causing damage during drivers’ strike
It was observed that while many drivers parked their vehicles, few ones did not adhere to the instruction of the striking unions, and were seen picking passengers to and fro.
This got some of the drivers who went on strike confront those who did otherwise, leading to the arrest of many.
Speaking on Atinka TV‘s morning Show, Ghana Nie, with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Major Derek Oduro RTD expressed worry over the fact that Government spoke to the drivers to exercise restraint but they still went ahead with the strike.
“All the things that happened on Monday was not nice and we were not happy, because people are making noise in this country. We always say that people should exercise patience. When you apply patience in whatever you do it ends up well, patience moves mountains but if you use anger to do things, it will get to a time that you will regret and you will say that you should have exercised patience,” he said.
He noted that the drivers said they would not increase transport fares because there was competition in the transport business, hence demanding a fuel price reduction.
However, he said government had no hand in the increase of fuel, adding that fuel price had gone up internationally.
Major Derek Oduro (RTD) again noted that petrol levies had already existed even before fuel prices increased, saying there is the need to take taxes from the people to develop the nation.
He was of the view that scrapping these taxes will rather postpone the development of the country, saying it had become necessary for the people to pay taxes for the betterment of the country.
“The government can say that I have heard what you are saying but if we were supposed to construct about 300 or 500 roads, because there is no money, we can only do about 150 or 200. It is us who have postponed our development,” he said.
Ghana| Atinkaonlione.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
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